Angled seat closure



Aug. 15, 1967 T. J= HEALY Filed Oct. 21, 1965 THOMAS J. HEALY UnitedStates Patent 3,335,923 ANGLED SEAT CLOSURE Thomas J. Healy, Baltimore,Md., assiguor to The Poly- Seal Corporation, New York, N.Y., acorporation of New York Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 499,517 1 Claim.(Cl. 222-542) The present invention relates to an improved unitarymolded plastic closure for both rigid and semi-rigid containersincluding collapsible tubes and the like.

While molded plastic closures have many advantages over most of theprior art closures constructed of different materials, they also havesome drawbacks. One of these drawbacks is what is known in the trade asback-0E, or cold flow, which is used to express the tendency of theclosure to become unseated and/ or loose after it has been attached tothe container.

This back-off is primarily the result of the changing of temperatures inwhich the closure and container go through from time to time after theyhave been filled. This change of temperature causes both members toexpand and to contract, and after a number of these expansion andcontraction cycles these plastic materials will not fully recover afterexpansion and therefore the closure becomes unseated and/or loose on thecontainer and in many instances does not provide a seal of suflicienttightness to prevent the contents from leaking. There is of course moreback-off of the closure when both the container and the closure areconstructed of a plastic material for the reason that the container isalso subject to the same expansion and contraction as the plasticclosure.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a closure having aseat engaging portion that will effect an improved seal with the sealingseat about the container opening.

Another object of the invention is to provide a closure that will havethe same sealing effect on a container constructed of either rigid, orsemi-rigid material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure wherein agreater pressure may be created by the seat engaging portion of theclosure to the sealing seat about the opening of the container with aminimum amount of hold down pressure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a closure that may beused on a variation of container sealing seat.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide maximum sealingbetween the closure and the container sealing seat and one which may bereadily reused without damaging the sealing effect.

Another object of the invention is to provide a closure that will notrequire a supplemental sealing gasket, or liner.

While several objects of the invention have been set forth, otherobjects, uses and advantages will become more apparent as the nature ofthe invention is more fully disclosed consisting of its novelconstruction and the arrangement of its locking features shown in thedrawings and described in the detailed description to follow, in thedrawings:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view in elevation of the improved closure and aportion of the container showing the closure secured to the containeroutlet in sealing relationship.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view in elevation of aclosure similar to that shown in FIGURE 1 and a portion of the containersimilar to that shown in FIGURE 1 wherein, the container is constructedof a rigid material illustrating a modified form of sealing seat.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view in elevation of a closuresimilar to that shown in FIGURE 1 and a portion of a container similarto that shown in FIGURE 2 formed of a semi-rigid plastic materialwherein the closure and container are in unsealed relationship inrespect to each other.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view in elevation of the closure andcontainer shown in FIGURE 3 illustrating the closure and semi-rigidplastic container in sealing relationship.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view in elevation of a closure similar to thatshown in FIGURE 1 and a portion of a container showing a furthermodified form of sealing seat.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional view in elevation similar to thatshown in FIGURE 1 and a portion of a container illustrating still afurther modified form of sealing seat.

Referring to the drawings like reference characters are used to pointout like and similar parts throughout the several views. The phrase,sealing seat, and/ or seat refers in particular to the area about theopening in the container.

The closure A is of a one-piece construction and is preferablysubstantially of the same consistency throughout its area. The closureis adapted for sealing both rigid and semi-rigid containers wherein thecontainers are provided with a variety of different forms of seatsealing surfaces and comprises in general a side wall 2, a top portion3, an angled or conical seat engaging portion 4 and a thread 5 carriedby the side wall for holding the closure A downwardly in sealedrelationship about the container opening. The seat engaging portion 4 ofthe closure be ginning at its lower edge 4' extends upwardly andinwardly at an angle with a plane running perpendicular to the verticalaxis of the closure. While this angle is illustrated as being ofsubstantially 60 degrees, the angle may be increased, or decreased tosome extent without changing the sealing effect of the closure, or itsoperation. The variation that may be made in the angle of the seatengaging surface 4 of the closure A depends a great deal on the type ofseat carried by the container and the type of material from which thecontainer is constructed.

The container B illustrated in FIGURE 1 may be constructed of a rigidmaterial such as glass, or it may be constructed of a semi-rigidmaterial such as may be molded from one of the well known plasticcompositions.

When the container is constructed from a rigid material the back-off isnot as pronounced as it is with the use of a plastic container for thereason that there is not as much expansion in the rigid container.

Referring again to the container B in FIGURE 1, the outer end portion 6about the opening B" is substantially broad. The closure A is adapted tobe screwed upon the neck portion B by engaging the threads 5 of theclosure with the thread 7 on the neck B. The angled seat engagingportion 4 is adapted to engage the outer edge 6' of the seat portion 6,applying an inwardly force about the opening of the container to sealthe opening B". If the closure is also of a substantially rigid typematerial there is very little, if any movement in either of the twomembers when the closure and container are in sealed relationship.However, if the closure is constructed of the more elastic material theclosure will be slightly expanded when the angular seat engaging surface4 engages the seat. This expansion of the closure will compensate, tosome extent for the cold flow of the plastic material from which theclosure is constructed.

If the container is constructed of a semi-rigid material, such asplastic, and the closure is constructed of a more rigid type of plastic,the angled seal engaging portion 6 will squeeze the outer edge 6' aboutthe opening B" of the container, pressing it slightly inwardly to set upa stress between the seal engaging portion of the closure and the sealon the container. This compression stress about the container openingwill likewise compensate for the cold flow of the material, or back-offof the closure from the container. The closure while generallyconstructed of a substantially rigid type of plastic material may alsobe compounded to have a pre-determined elas ticity which may also allowthe closure to be slightly expanded while the area about the containeropening is contracted when the closure is in sealing contact with thecontainer seat. This will under some circumstances give a greaterallowance for cold flows, and/or back-off than when only one of the twomembers are of semi-rigid construction.

The container shown in FIGURE 2, is shown constructed of a rigidmaterial, such as glass, while the closure A is of the same plasticmaterial as used on container B, shown in FIGURE 1, in this form, thecontainer is provided with a neck C having an opening C and an upperedge 9 surrounding the opening C. The sealing area 9' is angled atsubstantially the same degree as the angled surface 4 of closure shownand described in FIGURE 1. As the rigid container lacks any appreciableelasticity, the angular surface 9 is formed in substantially the sameplane as the angular sealing surface 4 of the closure.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 4 the container is shown formed of asemi-rigid plastic material and is somewhat compressible and/or elastic.In FIGURE 3, there is shown a closure A similar to that shown anddescribed for FIGURE 1, loosely fitted over a neck D of the plasticcontainer. That is, the closure is not in sealing engagement with thecontainer. In this form of the invention the outer end 11 defines anopening D. The end 11 of the container is slightly compressible and isformed with an angular surface 11 which is of a slightly greater anglethan the angled seat engaging portion 4 of the closure as shown inFIGURE 3, that is, the inner end of the angled seat 11 is spaced furtherfrom the lower end 4 of the angled seat engaging surface 4 than it is atthe upper end of the angled seat engaging portion 4', which allows theouter end 11 of the container neck to be pressed inwardly and will allowthe perspective angled surfaces 4 and 11' of the closure and containerto coincide when the closure A is fixed tightly upon the container afterthe edge 11 has been compressed inwardly, as shown in FIGURE 4 at 11".

In the form of the invention illustrated in FIGURE 5, there is shown acontainer of semi-rigid construction having, -a neck E and an upper edge12 extending about the container opening E. Formed integrally with theneck and extending laterally from the outer upper edge, is a resilientlip 12' having an outer tapered or conical face and an innersubstantially radial face and a V- shaped recess 12" extending about theouter peripheral surface of the neck adjacent the upper end thereof, andimmediately below the lip 12', whereby the lip is depressible into thegroove 12". The angled surface 4 of the closure A engages the upperouter edge of the lip 12 depressing it downwardly into the groove 12".This resilient characteristic of the lip 12 acts to compensate for thecold flow, or back-off of the closure from the sealing seat of thecontainer.

FIGURE 6 shows still a further modified form of sealing seat for aplastic container, having a neck portion F and an upper end 14surrounding an opening F of the container. Extending vertically andabove the normal upper end 14, is a narrow flexible ringlike portion 14'formed integrally with the normal neck portion 14 and adapted to engagethe angular seat engaging surface 4 of the closure. The portion 14 is ofsubstantially less cross-sectional area than the neck portion F, whichallows ,4 the ring portion 14' to be flexed more easily than it wouldnormally be if left the full thickness of the neck F, and by beingthinner would afford greater elasticity. The operation of the portion 14is well illustrated in FIGURE 6. Normally the portion 14' extendsupwardly along the line illustrated by the dotted line 12". When theclosure A is tightly aflixed to the container neck F the angled surface4 engages the outer upper edge of the portion 14, forcing it inwardly asshown in full lines. This form is in general similar to the form shownin FIGURE 5, that is, to reduce the thick neck area of the plasticadjacent the seal which is to be engaged by the angular surface 4 willprovide more elasticity between the two elements and provide for agreater degree of seat flexibility.

The present closure as it is readily seen will accommo date a wide rangeof sealing surfaces. Still referring to FIGURE 6, the neck portion F maybe formed as shown by the dotted line 14", tapering the neck to athinner outer edge similar to that shown at 14'.

The closure itself may be constructed of a wide range of materials forgiving it a calculated amount of flexibility which will allow theclosure to be extended laterally when its angled edge engages thecontainer.

While a certain specific structure has been specifically shown anddescribed it is not intended as a limitation as the scope of theinvention is best defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

In combination:

a container having a hollow cylindrical neck portion forming the meansthrough which contents of the container may be discharged,

a closure for said container,

cooperating means on the neck portion and in the closure, responsive torotary movement of the closure for axially advancing the closure on theneck portion and holding the same thereon,

a resilient lip of greater diameter than the neck portion andsurrounding the end thereof, said lip having a substantially conicalouter face tapering toward the end of the neck portion and asubstantially radial inner face whereby the lip tapers to a free annularedge which is thinner than its base,

a V-shaped groove in the neck portion adjacent the substantially radialinner face of the lip,

a conical seat engaging surface within the closure, said seat engagingsurface tapering away from said cooperating means within the closure,said seat engaging surface having a smaller taper angle than that of theconical outer face of said lip and in position to contact the free edgeof the lip as the closure is advanced through the cooperating means anddeflects the lip into said V-shaped groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,950,033 8/1960 Henchert 2225422,965,256 12/1960 Yochem 21543 3,117,703 1/1964 Henchert 2225463,189,072 6/1965 Starr 220-39 X 3,197,055 7/1965 Kelly 21543 3,259,2337/1966 Beeman 222-541 X FOREIGN PATENTS 14,999 7/1902 Great Britain.

737,210 9/1955 Great Britain.

846,780 8/ 1960 Great Britian.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

